


Chthonic Companion

by Vanitas_Repliku_26



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: ABC Challenge, M/M, but I enjoy it so far, it will probably be shitty, planning another thanzag, this is just to dip my feet into the fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29050092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanitas_Repliku_26/pseuds/Vanitas_Repliku_26
Summary: ABC for Thanzag. Some prompts will be AU but otherwise will be mostly canon compliant.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 57





	1. Ambrosia

Zagreus panted as Theseus faded from the final strike of Varatha. It had only been his second time facing the hero and his minotaur friend, Asterius, but Zagreus had learned quickly that he had to take care of Asterius first. With the bull’s powerful charge and wide, sweeping axe swings, Asterius was more of a challenge than Theseus even if Theseus did also have help from the gods. Getting past the duo on the second run through Elysium was thrilling and one, lone shade cheered at Zagreus’ victory. Left behind was what appeared to be a large bottle of nectar. Instead of a glass flask, it was in a rectangular glass bottle corked with a skull.

Curious, Zagreus opened the bottle and sniffed it. The smell was sweet, like honey, and warm. Even if he had never personally tasted it or seen it before, Zagreus recognized the viscous amber liquid as ambrosia, the nectar of the Olympian gods.

“What do I do with this?” Zagreus muttered to himself as he tucked the precious cargo away for safekeeping and made his way to the odor that led to the next room. “Maybe Achilles will know.”

Achilles was privy to a lot that Zagreus wasn’t, under less scrutiny than the prince. It was possible that he had gotten ahold of ambrosia once or twice in his lifetime.

* * *

Zagreus grumbled to himself as he walked out of the Styx, shaking the blood out of his hair and off his clothes. “Stupid satyrs….”

At Zagreus’ approach, Hypnos jerked awake, almost dropping his clipboard but managing to drop it before it hit the ground. He grinned when he saw Zagreus, looking down at his clipboard to see exactly what had taken Zagreus down that time; sometimes Zagreus had the most hilarious deaths like the one time Lernie had thrown him into a wall and he fell into the lavas of Asphodel. “Oh, wow, looks like you got taken out by those nasty dart-spitting—”

Zagreus didn’t appear to even notice or react to Hypnos as he turned into the west wing.

“Oh, hey….” Hypnos pouted as Zagreus continued to walk past him, apparently not listening. Zagreus always listened to Hypnos recapping how he died and giving him pointers on what not to do. This time, Zagreus apparently wasn’t having it. Hypnos couldn’t be too upset though; Zagreus was always on the move, gathering and learning from previous runs to be ready for the next escape attempt. Deciding that it wasn’t worth getting his feathers ruffled over, Hypnos leaned back to return to sleep.

“Sir Achilles!”

Achilles smiled as he watched Zagreus jog over to him, waving. “Good day, lad. How far did you make it this time?”

“Just to the Temple of Styx.” Zagreus frowned at the memory of a poisoned dart piercing his shoulder, leaking vile toxins into his veins. He had already been weakened by the two rooms he had searched through before, looking for the satyr sack Cerberus coveted, before running into a room filled with satyrs who enjoyed spitting venom darts at their enemies. The poison had killed Zagreus before he could reach the cleansing waters in the top corner of the room. “I hate those satyrs.”

“No one likes the satyrs, lad.”

“Anyway, I was wondering if you’d seen this before.” Zagreus pulled out the ambrosia form the depths of his chiton to show Achilles.

Achilles glanced around to make sure no shades were within eyesight of the contraband before he said, “Ambrosia is special, Zagreus. Much more precious than nectar.”

“So, what do I do with it?”

“Give it to someone precious, of course. A way to deepen your relationship.”

Zagreus looked down at the ambrosia in his hands, pondering Achilles’ words. Someone special, huh? Someone who deserved it.

As he was about to leave and go to his room to plan his next escape attempt, Zagreus noticed Thanatos standing at the balcony over looking the River Styx. Funny, Thanatos only showed up there after Zagreus had seen him during his runs, but Zagreus hadn’t run into Thanatos. Maybe there was another reason?

Looking at the ambrosia in his hands, Zagreus thought about gifting it to Thanatos. He had, after all, giving him more than enough nectar. Despite always complaining about the contraband, Thanatos still took the nectar. Whether he drank it or not, Zagreus never knew and never asked. It was a gift; Thanatos could do what he wanted with it.

At first giving the nectar to Thanatos had just been to get it off his hands. Zagreus had no use for it; it wasn’t like the gems or darkness used to upgrade the house or his abilities. Thanatos seemed like the likelier recipient for nectar. He had given a few to Dusa as thanks for keeping the house spotless and one to Nyx, as thanks for her assistance.

Thanatos was…special. Even if he didn’t feel the same way as Zagreus did, Zagreus didn’t mind. Though now Zagreus knew why he was drawn to Thanatos; if Achilles thought he truly was the god of life then he and Thanatos were two sides of the same obol.

With his mind made up, Zagreus headed over to Thanatos, keeping the ambrosia by his side.

“Than! Hey!”

Thanatos turned at the voice and smiled a bit. “Zagreus.”

He looked tired and even though gods didn’t technically need sleep, it did help to do it on occasion to keep the body in top shape. He probably had a lot of souls to gather due to the war Ares was maintaining on the surface. If he could, Zagreus would ask Ares to stop the war if only to give Thanatos a small break.

“Contraband again, Zagreus?” Thanatos asked, spotting the ambrosia Zagreus held. “Why am I not surprised? I don’t want to know where you keep getting this stuff.”

“Well, I’m going to keep getting it, so you better get used to it.” Zagreus held up the bottle with a lopsided grin. “And this one is for you.”

Thanatos tried not to grimace. First the nectar, now ambrosia? Was Zagreus fully aware of _how_ special ambrosia was when gifting it to someone? It was like a marriage proposal. That was exactly why it was contraband in Tartarus.

At the silence Thanatos offered and the annoyed expression, Zagreus lowered the ambrosia. Maybe this had been the wrong choice. Thanatos didn’t seem too eager to take the offering. “What is it? You don’t want it?”

“That isn’t it, Zagreus. You do understand that by gifting me ambrosia you are…courting me. As a potential mate.”

Zagreus tipped his head to the side. “Really?”

“Yes, Zagreus. This isn’t like nectar. It’s much more potent, much more special.”

“Oh.” Zagreus stared at the bottle in his hand before he held it out again with a grin. “I still want you to have it.”

Thanatos was about to tell Zagreus that this wasn’t something to be flippant about. It was serious, asking another god to become their mate, but Thanatos didn’t say anything. It was obvious from Zagreus’ expression that he was completely serious.

_He wants to court me? He could have any other god or goddess out there, but he chose me?_

In some way, Thanatos felt flattered that Zagreus liked him. There were few gods that liked his company, either because of his standoffish personality or because he dealt with death.

Staring at the bottle of ambrosia, Thanatos reached out a hand to take it.


	2. Boon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eeyyyy new chapter y'all. This may not be consistent but I'm gonna try and update maybe every week? I know it's been less than a week but I got super excited seeing all the comments xD  
> I hope you enjoy.

“Stop stealing my kills, Zagreus.”

“Not my fault you’re so slow!” Zagreus laughed as he threw the Chaos shield towards the exalted brightsword that Thanatos had marked for death.

Thanatos made a frustrated noise at the back of his throat as he used his scythe to slice a wandering eyeball. He said nothing else on the matter as he and Zagreus continued their contest.

In the end, despite a rocky start, Zagreus had managed to kill one more wretch than Thanatos.

Thanatos attributed it to Zagreus diving in on his kills like a hawk.

“Good work out there, Zagreus,” Thanatos said as the room’s prize—a pomegranate—appeared. He moved towards the two doors leading deeper into Elysium, watching Zagreus ponder what boom he wanted the pomegranate to strengthen.

After a while, Zagreus approached Thanatos and stared at him, waiting for the typical give-centaur-heart-before-poofing-away scene.

Thanatos, however, stared at Zagreus with a thoughtful expression.

“Than? Is everything all right?”

Whatever he had been thinking about had caused Thanatos to go deep into his mind and Zagreus’ voice startled him. He had enough self-control to twitch instead of flinch in surprise.

“Ah, yes. Apologies, Zagreus. I was thinking about giving you something other than a centaur heart today.”

“Something else?” Zagreus tilted his head, amused that Thanatos would even be willing to change his stubborn attitude. “What else could you give me?”

What _would_ Thanatos give him? Gems? Darkness? _Coins_? Zagreus must have been hanging around Charon too much to be so obsessed with coins like the Stygian boatman.

“I believe I shall give you a boon.”

Zagreus blinked at Thanatos’ statement, surprised. “A…boon?”

He hadn’t even known Chthonic gods could _give_ boons. Or perhaps they saw no reason to give them to Zagreus. He didn’t really blame them, though; if Hades heard of their willful boon giving then he would throw a fit.

“I can give you a centaur heart if you prefer,” Thanatos said, crossing his arms. He appeared embarrassed at suggesting a boon.

“N-no, a boon is fine!” Zagreus waved a hand to try and placate the god of death. “I’m just surprised. Chthonic gods have never offered me a boon. Only the Olympians.”

“It’s not a thing we give lightly. A boon is a precious thing, Zagreus, a piece of ourselves. That is why chthonic gods do not offer you boons for your escape attempt.”

“But…you are?” Zagreus asked a with a sly smile.

A chthonic god’s bon was piece of themselves and Thanatos was willing to give one to Zagreus to assist him even though they were not together?

Thanatos hunched his shoulders, even more embarrassed at the smile Zagreus was giving him, and grumbled, “Do you want it or not?”

“I’ll take it. I just like it when you blush.”

“I am not blushing!” Thanatos snapped. He tossed a black orb at Zagreus. “Bye.”

“Oh, wait!” Zagreus said, but Thanatos vanished in a flash of pale green light. He sighed, looking at the orb in his hands. Instead of three boons to choose from, it was only one.

With every shield toss there was a chance of marking the wretch for death. An instant K.O.

“Ohh….”

That would help a lot in his travels through Elysium. While it wouldn’t be too effective against Theseus and Asterius, it could help if Zagreus managed to make it up to the Temple of Styx.

Zagreus smiled as he headed into the door that led to a room with a centaur heart as a reward. “Thanks, Than.”

He would deal as much death as possible with the boon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah don't expect consistent chapter lengths either xD chapters will probably be at the least 500 words but that's sort of the point is just drabble length lol  
> anyway see ya soon!


	3. Centaur Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shorter than five hundred words but meh  
> enjoy I suppose

Centaur hearts were special items for a lot of reasons and for a lot of creatures. Not only for the centaur, since it was required to keep them alive, but for the person who acquired one. With magic deep inside it the centaur heart could bestow the one who secured it with life. Centaur hearts were hard for mortals to acquire since centaur were difficult creatures to not only find, but kill.

Mortals would kill for a centaur heart, a way to temporarily cheat death, if only for a short while. Mortals of course killed for far less than such a prized possession, but centaur hearts were like gold to them. Better than gold; the closest thing they could get to seeing a god in the flesh, perhaps.

Zagreus ran into centaur hearts as prizes during his runs, which wasn’t really surprising, all things considered since he ran into a _lot_ of strange things during his runs. He wasn’t one to question how centaur hearts got into Hades or make themselves known to him, but he was grateful for their existence. Acquiring them made him harder to kill, made it easier for him to quickly clear Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium even if he took more damage than usual. While he did like the boons and pomegranates for obvious reasons, centaur hearts were even more special to him.

So, it was astonishing that every time he beat Thanatos in their little who-can-kill-more-wretches contests the god of death would give him a centaur heart as a prize. Hell, sometimes if he lost, Thanatos would give Zagreus a centaur heart. Zagreus was baffled at the latter because he had _lost_ so he didn’t deserve a prize and yet Thanatos always gave him one. Always gave him a centaur heart. Not a pomegranate, not darkness or gems, but a centaur heart. Zagreus would have wondered why but he already knew the answer to his question because of what the centaur heart did.

Thanatos gave him a centaur heart to make it easier for him during his runs, make it less likely he’d die and return to the House. Even if he sounded angry or frustrated with Zagreus, the death god’s actions spoke louder than his words. By giving Zagreus a centaur heart, Thanatos showed that he cared about the other’s health. That he supported him, even if he didn’t like it.

He wanted Zagreus to keep going, much like how the centaur heart kept beating after being separated from its owner.


	4. Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah only 200 words but I don't really care

Thanatos had been assigned as the God of Death even before he had been born. The Fates chose his designations just like they had chosen Charon as the Stygian Boatman.

Of course, he had been chosen as the Death God; they needed a rigid routine in gathering the dead.

Thanatos severed the thread linking their soul to their physical body then handed the soul to Hermes who then led them to Charon, the final stop in their journey, save for those who had to speak with Hades. It kept everything running quickly and smoothly, especially with how easily humans died.

Zagreus was the opposite of everything that Thanatos was. While Thanatos was serious about his work and made sure everything he did was accurate, Zagreus was flippant and easily excitable. Always full of energy. Full of life.

Maybe that was why Thanatos was attracted to him. They were opposites and opposites were always attracted to each other.


End file.
